I'm sorry, there was an error with chapter 5 earlier, but it's been fixed now.
***
After that visit to the goblins, Mom and Grandma allowed me to venture out of the castle a little more, as long as I stayed within the family grounds and didn't go into the woods unaccompanied.
Since Grandma now let me do what she, Mom, and Aunt Helga called "mischief," I was able to explore other parts of the castle that I hadn't been able to before, and during those explorations, I discovered the famous Room of Requirement.
I set it up as a place where I could practice enchantments and rune carving. The room provided me with a spacious area with a workbench and rune carving materials, as well as a suitable area for practicing enchantments. There was also a corner with a bookshelf full of books related to runes and enchantments, and an armchair facing a fireplace.
I spent much of my free time either exploring the castle grounds, like the edge of the woods or the lake when the weather was nice, or in the Room of Requirement when it rained or was too cold to go outside.
***
When Helena turned four, it was her turn to be tortured... to be educated by Grandma, which in turn gave me much more free time. This time was quickly filled by Mom, who insisted I take every class offered at the castle. So, very soon, my schedule was packed with herbology and healing magic with Aunt Helga, runes and charms with Mom, potions and the study of magical creatures with Uncle Salazar, and hand-to-hand combat and transfiguration with Uncle Godric. There
were other classes too, like astrology and rituals, but I had more freedom with those since Mom didn't force me to take them. I could go if I wanted, or simply not go at all, since neither Mom nor Grandma thought it was absolutely necessary for me to take them at that time, as my days were already so full with all the classes I had to attend. But I would have to take those classes later when I freed up more time from Grandma's lessons.
The good thing about having my schedule packed with both physical and mental exercises is that my Mana Core is now at level 3, and from what I overheard Grandma telling Mom, it seems my magic is already similar to that of an average 18-year-old mage. They reached that conclusion because I'm able to perform certain spells several times more than Mom's students, who are two or three years older than me. When Grandma discovered this, she told Mom after my class, and I could see how happy and proud they both were of me, which in turn made me very happy, since that was something I always wanted in my previous world: for my parents to feel proud and happy for me instead of being sad and crying.
***
When Helena turned five, I took her on her first expedition to explore the castle's hidden dangers. Uncle Godric joined us, and once again, we were captured by the fearsome dragon while testing Uncle Salazar's cocoa and hazelnut confections for any dangerous ingredients. Our expedition ended with us being captured by the dragon and Uncle Godric fleeing, leaving us to our fate. Helena ended up imprisoned in the study hall for a month, and I was forced to stay in the dragon's lair, helping her clean her torture implements.
In other words, I had to spend all my free time for a month helping Mom with her rune-carving tools and cleaning her office without the help of the house-elves.
As for the villain who abandoned us to face the dragon alone, he was captured moments later, facing two of the castle's most dangerous creatures: the fearsome dragon and the deadly basilisk. He fell in combat after receiving more than an hour of lecturing.
***
On my 12th birthday, Artemis and I took our first flight... it was fantastic... the feeling of the wind on my face and the adrenaline rush as we plummeted down at high speed—it was the best day of my life.
The only downside was that I didn't yet have enough power to make Artemis carry more than one person or to fly while carrying someone for very long.
I also managed to create my first storage jewel, a rosewood bracelet with a capacity of 2 cubic meters. To make it, I needed my mom's help to carve some runes that I hadn't yet mastered, while I also practiced the Ecstasy and Undetectable Extension charms until I could cast them successfully.
As soon as I finished making the bracelet, I ran to show it to Mom. I was so excited that I didn't realize Mom was teaching when I walked into the classroom and ran to hug her, laughing and telling her I'd done it. When I realized I'd interrupted her class, I felt so embarrassed. Mom just smiled a little as she hugged me back and congratulated me. Her students congratulated me too, even though they didn't know why I was so happy. Mom finished her class then, and I was able to show her my finished project.
When Grandma and the others found out, they congratulated me too, and during dinner, even Uncle Salazar offered to get me more materials so I could keep experimenting. He even said he wouldn't give me so much homework if I gave him one, earning him a cold stare from Mom and a laugh from Uncle Godric.
With all the studying and practicing I had to do to make the bracelet, I managed to gather another 100 gold, which I spent on the Nonverbal Magic skill. But for the moment, it only worked with the spells I had mastered, since I could do them with a minimal movement of the staff. Noticing this, I decided to quickly gather another 100 gold to get the Wandless Magic skill, since by combining both, I can perform spells just by thinking about them, or at least that's what I think.
Since I planned to gather gold quickly, I started reviewing the system's tasks and realized that the ones with the highest rewards were those related to magical animals, either hunting them or obtaining materials from them. For example, getting unicorn or thestral hair. I think I could get some of them since there are herds of both in the forest. The problem is that they're deeper than I'm allowed to go on my own. If I want to go further, I'd have to convince Uncle Godric or Aunt Helga to let me go with them when they go to gather materials for Potions class, but I know I need Mom's permission first. Maybe if I tell her I want to learn how to collect the materials, she'll let me go... although she knows I'm not a big fan of Potions class, so she might not allow it.
***
In the end, she wouldn't let me into the forest, so I escaped with Artemis's help without her noticing. We flew over the forest until we found the clearing where the unicorns usually hang out, according to what I'd heard Uncle Godric say. Artemis circled a couple of times until I spotted one. I landed Artemis a little ways away so as not to startle it.
When I was close enough to see it properly, I was amazed by the unicorn. Its coat was so pure white that it seemed to shimmer silvery in the moonlight. It was calmly trotting around the clearing. I stayed close to the trees so as not to frighten it, but I accidentally stepped on a branch, which broke, alerting it to my presence.
When the unicorn saw me, I didn't know what to do since it was so sudden, and I didn't want to do anything that would scare it. But to my surprise, it approached me as if curious about why I was there watching it. When it was very close, I couldn't help but raise my hand to try to pet it, and it touched my palm with its nose and then let me. I was stroking its mane when suddenly there was a flapping sound that startled it, causing it to bolt.
When I turned to the sky to see what had scared him, I froze, because flying above was...
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